Cranberry Apple Chicken Salad

This is basically the best fall lunch ever, loaded with sweet dried cranberries and shredded apple. Just TRUST me and try it. Sweet and tangy and savory, mmmmmmm……. It’s honestly everything you never knew you needed in a chicken salad. Scooped over a bed of greens or sandwiched between your favorite bread slices. Either way you WIN!

I personally like my chicken salad with shredded chicken breast. This calls for 2 poached & shredded chicken breasts. Because options are always good you can also dice the (boneless) cooked chicken OR buy a cooked rotisserie chicken, pull the meat off and shred it. That’s a little messier but then the chicken is already cooked and you can easily combine white & dark meat if you like both.

This recipe is adapted from Rachel’s Cranberry Chicken Salad on allrecipes.com. You can check out the original version here. I use shredded chicken and I increase the apple. For the apple I’ve tried both Granny Smith and Honeycrisp. I loved both. Your favorite kind of apple will work perfectly. I use chives instead of scallions. If your grocery store does not have chives you can use scallions instead, but I prefer chives in this recipe. I eliminate the dried dill & black pepper. I’ve also eliminated the nuts, they are not “required” here and I don’t think they add that much. If you want to, you can absolutely add a handful of chopped pecans or walnuts. I have tried using both and they are good, but the cranberries + apple + lime + chive (or scallion) are really what make this recipe a stand out.